Abstract
This paper identifies several areas where economic research can make a difference in agricultural biotechnology’s evolution and suggests fields of related research emphasis. Also, methodologies are identified that need improvement to provide guidance for managing biotechnology policies. First of all, recent trends in biotechnology research that may affect agriculture in developing countries are discussed. The paper then outlines several types of economic research on biotechnology, including technology adoption, ex ante analysis of biotechnology’s economic impacts and institutional and policy designs. It is argued and shown that economic analysis can help to improve (i) the allocation of research resources, (ii) intellectual property rights arrangements, (iii) technology transfer, (iv) the structure of private and public research, (v) the conservation of genetic materials, (vi) the farm-level adoption of biotechnology innovations and (vii) the direct and indirect impact of biotechnologies on farmers and consumers.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Antle, J., and R. Just (1991): Effects of Commodity Program Structure on Resource Use and the Environment. In: R. Just, and N. Bockstael (eds.). Commodity and Resource Policies in Agricultural Systems. Agricultural Management and Economics Series, Springer, New York, pp. 97–128.
Binswanger, H. (1974): A Microeconomic Approach to Induced Innovation. Economic Journal 84 (336), pp. 940–958.
Castillo, F., D. Parker, and D. Zilberman (1999): The Performance of Offices of Technology Transfer. Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley.
Collender, R., and D. Zilberman (1985): Land Allocation Under Uncertainty for Alternative Specifications of Return Distributions. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 67 (4), pp. 779–786.
David, P., B. Hall, and A. Toole (1999): Is Public RandD a Complement or Substitute for Private RandD? A Review of the Econometric Evidence. Working Paper 7373, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA.
Encaoua, D. (1998): The Economics and Econometrics of Innovation. Annales D’Economie et de Statistique 49 /50, pp. 27–51.
Feder, G., R. Just, and D. Zilberman (1985): Adoption of Agricultural Innovations in Developing Countries: A Survey. Economic Development and Cultural Change 32 (2), pp. 255–298.
Foltz, J., J. Lee, M. Martin, and P. Preckel (1995): Multiattribute Assessment of Alternative Cropping Systems. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 77 (2), pp. 408–420.
Graff, G., G. Rausser, and A. Small (1999): Agricultural Biotechnology’s Complementary Intellectual Assets. Paper presented at the conference “The Shape of the Coming Agricultural Biotechnology Transformation” 17–19 June, Tor Vergata University, Rome.
Green, G., and D. Sunding (1997): Land Allocation, Soil Quality, and the Demand for Irrigation Technology. Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 22 (2), pp. 367–375.
Griliches, Z., B. Hall, and A. Pakes (1987): The Value of Patents as Indicators of Inventive Activity. In: P. Dasgupta, and P. Stoneman (eds.). Economic Policy and Technological Performance. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 97–124.
Hayami, Y., and V. Ruttan (1985): Agricultural Development: An International Perspective. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Heiman A, D. Just, and D. Zilberman (1999): The Role of Socio-Economic Factors and Lifestyle Variables on Attitude Toward and Demand for Genetically Modified Foods. Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley.
Hochman, E., and D. Zilberman (1978): Examination of Environmental Policies Using Production and Pollution Microparameter Distributions. Econometrica 46 (4), pp. 739–760.
Howitt, R. (1995): A Calibration Method for Agricultural Economic Production Models. Journal of Agricultural Economics 46 (2), pp. 147–159.
James, C. (1998): Global Review of Commercialized Transgenic Crops. ISAAA Briefs, No. 8, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, Ithaca, NY.
de Janvry, A., G. Graff, E. Sadoulet, and D. Zilberman (1999): Agricultural Biotechnology and Poverty: Can the Potential Be Made a Reality? Paper presented at the conference “The Shape of the Coming Agricultural Biotechnology Transformation”, 17–19 June, Tor Vergata University, Rome.
de Janvry, A. and E. Sadoulet (1992): Agricultural Trade Liberalization and Low Income Countries: A General Equilibrium-Multimarket Approach. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 74 (2), pp. 268–280.
Just, R., and D. Zilberman (1983): Stochastic Structure, Farm Size, and Technology Adoption in Developing Agriculture. Oxford Economic Papers 35 (2), pp. 307328.
Lancaster, K. (1991): A New Approach to Consumer Theory. In: K. Lancaster (ed.). Modern Consumer Theory. Elgar, Aldershot, UK and Brookfield, Vt. pp. 11–43, (previously published in 1966 ).
Mansfield, E. (1961): Technical Change and the Rate of Imitation. Econometrica 29 (4), pp. 741–766.
Mowery, D., and N. Rosenberg (1979): The Influence of Market Demand Upon Innovation: A Critical Review of Some Recent Empirical Studies. Research Policy 8, pp. 102–153.
Osgood, D. (1999): Information, Precision, and Waste. Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Berkeley.
Parker, D., and D. Zilberman (1993): University Technology Transfers: Impacts on Local and U.S. Economies. Contemporary Policy Issues XI, pp. 87–99.
Pisano, G. (1988): Innovation Through Markets, Hierarchies, and Joint Ventures: Technology Strategy and Collaborative Arrangements in the Biotechnology Industry. Ph.D. thesis, University of California, School of Business, Berkeley.
Postlewait A., D. Parker, and D. Zilberman (1993): The Advent of Biotechnology and Technology Transfer in Agriculture. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 43, pp. 271–287.
Rausser, G. (1999): Public-Private Alliances. AgBioForum 2 (1), pp. 5–10.
Rausser, G., and A. Small (1996): The Economic Value of Patents, Licenses, and Plant Variety Protection. Working Paper No. 797, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley.
Rosen, S. (1974): Hedonic Prices and Implicit Markets: Product Differentiation in Pure Competition. Journal of Political Economy 82 (1), pp. 34–55.
Scherer, F. (1965): Firm Size, Market Structure, Opportunity, and the Output of Patented Inventions. American Economic Review 55, pp. 1097–1123.
Shah, F., D. Zilberman, and U. Chakravorty (1995): Technology Adoption in the Presence of an Exhaustible Resource: The Case of Groundwater Extraction. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 77 (2), pp. 291–299.
Spence, A. (1975): Monopoly, Quality, and Regulation. Bell Journal of Economics 6 (2), pp. 417–429.
Sunding, D., and D. Zilberman (2000): The Agricultural Innovation Process: Research and Technology Adoption in a Changing Agricultural Sector. In:.B. Gardner, and G. Rausser (eds.). The Handbook of Agricultural Economics. Elsevier, forthcoming.
Taylor, R., and R. Howitt (1993): Aggregate Evaluation Concepts and Models. In: Carlson, D. Zilberman, and Miranowski (eds.). Agricultural and Environmental Resource Economics. Biological Resource Management Series, Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 142–74.
Teece, D. (1986): Profiting from Technological Innovation: Implications for Integration, Collaboration, Licensing, and Public Policy. Research Policy 15, pp. 285–305.
Williams, J.R., P.T. Dyke, and C.A. Jones (1983): EPIC — A Model for Assessing the Effects of Erosion on Soil Productivity. In: W.K. Lauenroth, G.V. Skogerboe, and M. Flug (eds.). Analysis of Ecological Systems: State-of-the-Art in Ecological Modeling. Elsevier, New York, pp. 553–572.
Wright, B. (1983): The Economics of Invention Incentives: Patents, Prizes, and Research Contracts. American Economic Review 73 (4), pp. 691–707.
Wright, B., and B. Koo (1999): The Effects of Advances in Biotechnology on the Optimality of Ex-Ante Evaluation of Genebank Material. Presented at the conference “The Shape of the Coming Agricultural Biotechnology Transformation”, 17–19 June, Tor Vergata University, Rome.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Graff, G., Zilberman, D., Yarkin, C. (2000). The Roles of Economic Research in the Evolution of International Agricultural Biotechnology. In: Qaim, M., Krattiger, A.F., von Braun, J. (eds) Agricultural Biotechnology in Developing Countries. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3178-1_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3178-1_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-4864-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-3178-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive